Former Ford showroom hosts Mercado Guadalajara

Mercado Guadalajara

If you’re driving around, cast an eye west of Rosauer’s at the building that used to be the showroom for the former Ford and Chrysler dealerships. It’s now home to the Mercado Guadalajara Carniceria & Panaderia.

Say wha’? OK, all you Spanglish speakers and wannabe fluent types, it’s a Mexican market. Fresh butcher case with all sorts of popular Mexican meat cuts. And a bakery, kicking out Mexican pastries. Get there early, because by mid-afternoon, the goodies are gone.

The shelves are stocked with all sorts of product that will appeal to Hood’s large Latino population, and those of us who love Mexican cooking, and like the growing availability of ingredients at Rosauer’s, Safeway, and more to the point, the nearby Juanita’s Marketa.

I’m hoping the Mercado becomes a place where you (we) can buy fresh goat. This omnivore says, Bring it on. (Otherwise, you have to drive to Fubon in Portland to getcher goat. Get … your … goat — get it? Oh, never mind.)

Yu-UMMMM!

Is there anything better than really good bread? Crisp on the outside. Chewy on the inside. Just a bit of salt to complement the earthy allure of good flour, water, yeast.

Hold on, ‘cuz it’s comin’. Michael Eggebrecht, who founded the original Loafer’s in Bingen in 1996, wants back in the game. His family has a hand in the dough for more than 120 years, and although he works as a consultant to help start other bakeries, he saw an opportunity to do his own thing in the recent closure of Panzanella.

Friday afternoon, he was in there with his son, testing recipes and ovens. And giving away free loaves — delicious loaves, I might add. I was chewing some of his fine ciabatta as I strolled around First Friday.

Michael says it will be called either Eggebrecht Baking Co. or Eggebrecht Artisan Bakery. Either way, look for an opening in early May. Dibs on the first loaf.

P.S. What the Hood needs now …

… and may we only hope, is that someone with the oven chops will decide to create a great pastry bakery. Look, I buy my occasional muffin or donut at Safeway or Rosauer’s, and South Bank Kitchen nicely covers some of this ground. But wouldn’t it be nice to have a place where you could get a well-made Danish, sweet breads, cakes that taste like something other than wall board and Crisco? On at least three recent occasions, three different people have told me, What we really need is a good pastry bakery! This idea, by the way, is free for the taking. Just make sure you tell me when you’re open.

New (but familiar) tenant at former Panzanella space

Word from a good source is that the space formerly occupied by the late, great Panzanella at 5th and Cascade will remain a bakery — under the able hands of the gentleman who founded the original Loafer’s in Bingen. More details when I’m able to scrape them together.